Lead Babies

A nation-wide disregard for warnings about lead due to misinformation and misunderstanding is causing an epidemic of learning and behavior problems in our children. Lead is in the media daily, while growing concern about the global trend of increasing learning and behavior problems in children is at a peak. Fortunately, the future is a hopeful one; the lack of awareness that has allowed a generation of injured children to be born can be replaced with the understanding needed to break the cycle and reverse this needless trend. Lead Babies is a book that has the power to initiate profound change. House paint, gasoline, canned food and tap water: a generation ago, these lead sources changed the world we live in and upped the ante in the gamble that goes with having healthy, thriving children. Despite a recent renewed concern about lead, the lead industry continues to be alive and well with a flourishing demand and steady production. The multiplicity of preventable or removable lead sources that you now invite into your daily routines unintentionally have life-altering consequences. But there is good news. The cycle of learning disabilities, ADHD, behavior problems and declining IQ, and possibly even autism can be broken. As you are shown the tangible links between exposure to lead, the developing brain and children’s learning and behavior, you will begin to realize and use the power you have. Each one of us can take small steps to directly and significantly influence our family’s future. Lead sources are easy and inexpensive to identify, reduce and eliminate without radical lifestyle changes. And although damage is irreversible, past lead accumulations from exposure can and must be reversed to protect against further, future damage. For decades, the negative effects on the brain caused by lead have been well understood and documented by neurologists and researchers. Until now, this knowledge has not been presented in practical terms. Lead Babies enhances readers’ understanding of the costs should they opt for complacency. A small individual effort to reduce and avoid lead will impact a family’s quality of life immediately and for generations to come. This book will change your perceptions and understandings about children’s learning, intelligence and behavior today. At very least, you will view the fields of medicine and education through a new lens. Your understanding of people in general will necessarily shift. You will rethink crime. The responsibility of pregnancy will assume new significance. As you reconnect cause with effect, you will have engaged in the first step towards breaking a cycle of lead-caused intellectual disability, the implications of which have the potential to undermine life and society as we know them. At a personal level, your empowerment will shape the legacy you leave in ways that are not only real but profound.